By Adam Hornbuckle
Staff Writer
Twenty eight teams of 140 students raised $312 at a charity dodgeball tournament ran by nine Post Foundations classes in the Pratt Center gymnasium on Thursday, Oct. 5. The nine Post Foundations classes of 20 students each volunteered to run the event, along with the nine peer mentor students who help teach the classes.
Post Foundations Classes hold charity dodgeball tournament.
Nicole Guillet, a junior education major and peer mentor was one of the nine mentors who helped organized the event. “We had a great turn out – over 25 teams ranging from the Delta Zeta sorority, to lacrosse, football, basketball, and swimming [teams], to game design majors and everyone in between,” Guillet said. “The proceeds are going to Inclusive Sports and Fitness, a gym [in Bayport, New York] that specializes in recreational and athletic activities for kids with disabilities.”
The dodgeball fundraiser was the Post Foundation’s student service learning project for their classes. The event also connected them to this year’s common read, “Look Me in the Eye,” by John Elder Robison. “Look Me in the Eye” is a memoir that chronicles the author’s life with Asperger’s syndrome. The students chose to donate the money they raised to Inclusive Sports and Fitness to benefit kids facing the same struggles the author faced. “It was satisfying to see everyone come together from such different and diverse groups and have fun for a great cause,” Mike Licata, a junior health science major and one of the participating peer mentors, said.
Another participating peer mentor, Samantha Lool, a sophomore health science major, agreed. “The dodgeball tournament brought together so many people from campus and I feel like our freshmen students definitely got a taste of what the LIU Post community is like,” she said.
Danielle Haye, a freshman biology major, is in one of the Post Foundations classes that participated in running the event. “It was really good to meet new people [and] have fun in a setting outside of class. I got to meet other freshmen and that was cool,” Haye said. Melissa Lysse, a sophomore education major, also attended the event. “The dodgeball tournament was fun to watch; it was satisfying to see the different groups come together, compete, and create memories,” Lysse said.
The peer mentors hope to organize another charity dodgeball event next year; this was the first year they held this fundraiser. To learn more about Inclusive Sports and Fitness, visit www.inclusivesportsandfitness.org.
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